Separable binder ring assembly



y 3, 1952 SPINNER SEPARABLE BINDER RING ASSEMBLY Filed July 2, 1947 FIG. I

FIG. 2

TNVENTOR ISIDORE SPINN R i1, 9-) AT TO Patented July 8, :7

2,602,542 7 SEPARABLE BINDER RING ASSEMBLY Isidore Binding tionof Delaware Spinner, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Plastic Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporaf Application July 2, 1947, Serial No. 758,507 z'ciaims. (o1. 206-56) This invention relates to binder ringsand to a method of making the same, particularly to binder rings of resilient plastic material for use in binding a stack of pages, or for holding curtains, draperies or the like on a rod, or for other purposes. In my Patent No. 2,435,561, issued February 3, 1948, there is shownand described an. improved method of making binder rings whereby aJlarge number of such rings may be made in a; single operation. Briefly,,pthat method consists in scoring or cutting .asheet of plastic to providea plurality of parallel abutting fingers that are held together along a very small fractional part of their abutting lines, of contact, the sheet being, then curledinto tubular form. This forms a plurality of rings held together and wherein the rings are readilyseparable one. from another for individual use. .I have iound'that when such rings are separated there remains a rough spot atthe point of separation; This interferes with the insertion of the ring through holes. or slots in the material .or materials being held thereby and may even injure the material. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a curled tube of individual rings which are held together only at one or more spaced points of very narrow width so that the rings may be readily separated from one another, and wherein the point of holding of the rings is along an edge thereof that does not have any appreciable sliding contact with the articles that are to be bound by the ring.

In accordance with the present invention a sheet of plastic material that is to be formed into a plurality of rings is cut to form the'individual: fingers that. .are to constitute the rings, with abutting fingers physically separate from one another along their entire length. The fingers are held together by a backbone which constitutes the edge of the sheet. Each finger remains joined to the backbone at a narrow length on the crosswise edge of the finger.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank from which a plurality of rings is to be made simultaneously;

Figure 2 is an end view of the blank of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the blank of Figure 1 curled into tubular form and'illustrat ing one end ring severed from the rest of the tube; I

Figure 5 is an end view of one of the rings of Figure 4; I

v Figure 6 is a perspective View of a stack of pages bound by the ring of the present invention; and [Figure 7 is a diagrammatical view illustrating the manner of curling the blank of Figurel into the tubular form of Figure 4.

In the accompanying drawing like'f'reference numerals designate like parts throughout.

Reference may now be had more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3. There is provided a blank I of Celluloid, cellulose acetate, Pyroxylin, Vinylite, or other plastic resilient material which when heated can be formed to the desired shape and retains its thus formed shape upon cooling. The blank of Figure 1 is of a.

generally rectangular shape and has a series of uniformly'spaced parallel lines ofout 3-3 extending through the entire thickness of the strip and in a direction transversely of the strip almost but not quite the complete length of the strip. Adjacent lines of cut 3 are joined at opposite ends by discontinuous smooth curved lines of cut 4. The lines of cut 4 extend through the entire thickne'ss oi the material and they, merge with the lines of cut 3 along smooth curves. Each curved line of cut dis discontinuous at one location, indicated ata5, which is in a position corresponding to the crest of the curve. The lines of out thus form a seriesof fingers 6 and backbones 'l and 8, each finger being joined to both backbones at the locations 5. The backbones thus'lightly hold the fingers together in sheet form.

The blank of Figure l is curled into a cylinder or tube shape 9. This is done by placing the blank on a flexible sheet that rests upon a heated table then, by holding the flexible sheet taut, the flexible sheet together with the blank I are then rolled around a mandrel to curl the blank into tubular form, the blank being held by the sheet around the mandrel for a length of time sumcient to permit the plastic material to cool to a temperature such that it retains its tubular shape. Figure 4 shows the blank I curled to form a tube 9. The blank is curled through an are exceeding 360 by an amount more than the maximum widths of the two backbones so that the opposite edges of each finger 6 overlap one another, as may be seen from Figure 4. The maximum temperature to which the material is heated preceding or during the curling operation is in- 3 sufllcient to cause the material to become bonded together either at the lines of cut or at the overlapped surfaces of the curled sheet. The lines of cut 3 extend circumferentially around the tube thus formed.

The tube 9 constitutes an article of manufacture and sale. The purchaser or user of this tube may break off the "rings, one at a time, as individual rings areneeded. The break in each case is at the junctures between the ring and the inner and outer backbones. cumferential edges of the thus formed ring are smooth, being of the degree of sheath-assess termined by the dies used i'n forming the cuts 3. There are no rough parts at'the sidee'dges on the ring. The only place where there may be any degree of roughness on each; ring is the All of the cir' sheet, said strips constituting two backbones ex- "tending at right angles to the fingers and with place or places where the ring has been broken H from the backbones, namely, at the places-5.

The ring 9 may be used for binding a stack of sheets "of paper together. This may be accomplished by merely manually openingthe end N1 of the ring and then threading the ring through a line of perforations in a stack of pages. When theend I0 is released it springs backto the position of Figure 5 due to its own resiliency, and is inpressure contactwith the subjacentpart II overlapped thereby,.thus holding the ring closed; This occurs even if the ring had previously been openedmore; thanl80 A plurality of rings, indicated at I2-|2, may be threadedthrough sep ara-te groups of aligned perforations in a stack of pages, bi-nding the stack "of pages together, as illustratedmFigure 6. p t

1 Figure? illustratesone' method of making the binder cylinder 9 of Figure 4. y The blank I rests on a flexible cloth sheet l5 on a heated table 16-. The sheet l5 is rolled around a mandrelll' and passes around a rod I 8, the two ends of the sheet being held taut. The mandrel I7 and the rod l8 roilfrom right to left on the table [6 to curl the binder. A machine for thus forming a binder isillustratedin the patent to Christian B. Nelson and myself, No. 2,211,743, issued August 30,- 1940, to which reference may be had. t I haveherein illustrated a sheet wherein the individual fingers 6 are held together by two backbones! and 8. It is within the purview of the present invention to omit one ofthose two backbones so that thefingers are held together w lrons end- In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have here shown and described apreferred embodimentof my invention. It is, however; to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles; of the, invention. What I: consider new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l.-. An article of manufacture comprising a con-e each finger extending lengthwise from one backit to the' btli'er. each finger being joined to both; ackbones isaid sheet having curved lines .of

cut almostbutnot'q'uite severing the fingers from fthe ba-ckbones, whereby the fingers are held togetheijlby the backbones but are readily severed therefrom.

2 A plurality of side by side joined separable rings each adapted to be opened, "said joined rings comprising acontinuous sheet curled int!) tubular form with the edges of the sheet overlapping, the extent of overlap being less than 360, the sheet being of resilient material ans held in tubular-shape by its own resiliency, the overlapped portions being physically separable to open-the tube and the material being sumcieiitly resilient so that upon release of the opened over: la ped-portions of the tube those portions spring back under 'thir-bwn resiliency to complete "the tube, theftu be' being out along "a plurality of uni formly sp'ace'dparallel lines each at which ex tends through the entire thickness ofthe material and around the entireperiphe'ry of the tube, and in 'a plan substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube to facilitate saparatingthe'tube into a plurality of rings, there being curved linesof cut adjacent those opposite edgesof thesheet between-which the adjacent lines ofcut extend, the curved lines of cut m'erg ing with the parallel lines of out along smooth curves, leaving a narrowbackbone between the curved lihes of cut and the adjacent edges of the sheet,' said backbones being joined to the rings adjacent the curved cuts to hold the rings to gether. v Y ISIDORE SPINNER.

7 REFERENCES CITE-D The following references are'of file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1-;3335231 ,Ulrich Mar; 911920 2.069.333; Salfisberg Feb. 2, 1937 2,202,097 Farkas May 28-, 1940 2,255,234 Tauber June-2, 1942 2,29%);06-1 Spinner Oct; 13; 1942 record in the. 

